Chapter 656 : It is only 6.9%!!! (Patreon)

Standing alone in an alley, Fujin said with a hint of amusement in his voice, “To what do I owe the pleasure, Jiraiya the Gallant?”

In the dark alley, a white-haired figure became visible behind Fujin. Stepping out of the darkness, Jiraiya said, “It's good to finally see the Spectral Swordsman in the flesh. I have to admit, I thought you'd look far scarier considering the rumors I kept hearing about you.”

Unlike others in Konoha, Jiraiya spent more time in nearby villages and countries than in Konoha. Hence, he was very well aware of the fearsome reputation Fujin had outside Konoha.

In fact, it was he who informed Hiruzen about how feared the Spectral Swordsman was in the neighboring countries, causing Hiruzen to reevaluate Fujin all those years ago. Along with Fujin's strength, this was the main factor behind letting Fujin take the Anbu Captain promotion mission at a mere 13 years of age!

Fujin chuckled and replied, “Looks can be deceiving. I'm sure someone like you would already know that.”

Jiraiya became slightly irritated as he realized that Fujin was hinting at the girls Jiraiya was spying on. He muttered, “Today's generation is really reckless. They don't even let poor old men do research in peace.”

Fujin chuckled again and said, “Luckily for you, you're neither poor nor old. You shouldn't have an issue in dealing with some turbulences.”

Jiraiya sighed and asked, “Did you have to be so heavy-handed? Had it been someone else, he could have died.”

Fujin shrugged and answered, “Naruto has a habit of pranking others. While I don't mind it, he doesn't always understand where the limits lie. Since you provided such a good opportunity to educate him, I couldn't say no.”

Jiraiya was surprised by Fujin's reasoning. However, he couldn't help but find it a bit suspicious. He thought, ‘Is what he said true? But why do I have a feeling that it isn't the case? It almost feels like he did it to mess with me rather than teaching Naruto a lesson. No, to be more accurate, it feels like it was a trap he had set for me to step into!’

Fujin continued, “Besides if it was anyone else, I'd have just picked him up and thrown him in between those kunoichis.”

‘...’ Jiraiya was left speechless by Fujin's honest admission. He thought, ‘Indeed, he is very peculiar! I now understand why sensei used this word so many times in his reports. I thought it was just us, but it seems like everyone taught by sensei becomes peculiar in a unique way.’

Fujin said, “Anyway, enough about me. Why have you been hovering around me?”

Jiraiya scoffed internally, ‘Why would I be hovering around you? Not only aren't there any pretty girls around you, but your house is so far away from the village that there isn't a single soul around it!’

He replied, “I wasn't hovering around you. I was keeping an eye on Naruto.”
Jiraiya became serious and continued, “Since you're training Naruto, I can guess that Kakashi gave him to you to prepare him for the Chunin Exam finals.”
Fujin nodded as Jiraiya became quiet for a few seconds. He continued, “Forgive me, but I want to take over Naruto's training from you.”

Fujin raised his eyebrow and muttered, “For you to say this… Are you planning to teach Naruto how to harness Nine Tails’ chakra?”

Jiraiya wasn't surprised that Fujin was able to guess it and nodded. Fujin replied, “Hmm, I don't have an issue with it, but I promised to teach Naruto something. If I don't, I'm afraid he'll bother me till the end of time. Luckily, it shouldn't take a long while. You can have him after a few days.”

Jiraiya asked in surprise, “Didn't he already learn Infinite Breakthrough jutsu?”

Fujin replied, “He did, but I just taught it to him so that he could use what I was planning to teach him better. I'll be teaching him how to supercharge a jutsu. To be honest, that would go well with harnessing Nine Tails’ chakra as well. Perhaps you could help him fine-tune it if he learns to harness Nine Tails’ chakra properly.”

A thoughtful expression appeared on Jiraiya's face as he muttered, “Naruto supercharging jutsus while using Nine Tails’ chakra… Now that would be a sight to see.”

Fujin chuckled and replied, “It sure would. Be sure to warn him several times about aiming it properly and making sure that nothing else is nearby. Otherwise, he might end up destroying the entire village.”

Jiraiya was about to defend Naruto when he noticed something very peculiar. He thought, ‘What the…? He doesn't seem worried that Naruto might do that. Instead, I feel like he is looking forward to the mess that it would create. How exactly was this kid raised? And how did sensei guide him?’

Unable to keep up with Fujin's chaotic thoughts, Jiraiya could only say, “Alright. I'll come pick up Naruto in a couple of days.”

His expression became curious as he asked, “By the way, is it true that you defeated Orochimaru twice?”

Fujin answered, “The second time we fought can't really be considered a battle. He was only covering his subordinate's escape and retreated soon after. I did defeat him the first time, but I'm not sure I'd be able to repeat the same now that he has an idea about how I fight.”

A smile appeared on Fujin's face as he said, “Fortunately, with you and Grandpa here, I hopefully won't have to fight him. Or at least not have to fight him by myself.”

Jiraiya nodded. He thought, ‘This kid is good. Being able to force Orochimaru to retreat twice and still being humble enough to admit that he might not be able to win next time while being only 16. No wonder sensei places so much importance on him.

Be it his strength or humbleness, he is quite similar to Minato. However, Minato gained a lot of experience on the battlefield. And, he had a technique that made him invincible and allowed him to escape safely whenever in danger. Fujin still lacks those.’

Knowing how dangerous Orochimaru was better than anyone, Jiraiya said, “It's a good thing you realize that. Orochimaru is too cunning and devious. Even though you forced him to retreat twice, don't underestimate him.

The next time you fight, he'll already have appropriate counters for the techniques you used. And, he won't show those counters directly and will wait for you to become overconfident or make a wrong move before using them and putting you in a difficult situation.”

Fujin nodded and said, “Thanks for the warning.”

At the same time, he thought, ‘It's a shame that Orochimaru would likely be dead or severely weakened in a month's time. Otherwise, someone like him would have been a very good whetstone to help me refine my techniques and combat systems. And, Konoha wouldn't have stopped me from trying to hunt him down, which would have given me several opportunities to clash with him.

Even though there are others who are stronger than Orochimaru, their knowledge of Ninjutsu is nowhere near his. Instead, they are stronger just because they have honed a particular technique or fighting style to the limit or have a broken Kekkei Genkai. They won't be able to help me in the same way as someone like Orochimaru can.’

Jiraiya didn't have a clue about what Fujin was thinking. Seeing his expression, he thought that Fujin was thinking about what he had said.

Meanwhile, Fujin sighed internally, deciding, ‘Oh well, I'll just use my Akura identity to pick fights with the ones that can help me improve. Hmm, I hope Ay and Onoki don't have any heart problems. I have a feeling that I'll be beating up too many Kumo and Iwa ninjas by the time Akatsuki becomes more active…’

Fujin snapped out of his thoughts when Jiraiya suddenly exclaimed, “I nearly forgot!”
Jiraiya stepped close to Fujin and softly asked, “Looking at your house, compound and training ground, I couldn't help but be curious. Why do you have so many seals inscribed on your house? Did Sensei order it? Or is there an issue that you noticed? Or was it for the kids you were training?”

Fujin raised an eyebrow and asked with a confused look, “What do you mean by so many seals?”

Fujin's response stumped Jiraiya. Even though he had a lot of speculations, a confused look followed by that question wasn't one of them. Jiraiya said, “I mean the tens of thousands of seals on your house and compound.”

Fujin frowned and said, “What's ‘many’ about it? It is actually too few. It is only 6.9% of the seals I was planning to inscribe on my house. Unfortunately, I ran out of space. So, I inscribed a few seals on my compounds. Though I'm still not satisfied.”